I've given up on the MSP430 family for the very simple reason that using Linux and OpenSource tools for it is a real iffy situation.
The AVR tools are better, but the processor sucks with static tables piped from flash into ram via the Z register before they can be accessed using normal C pointers. Open Source tools for ARM processors are well supported in the GNU toolchain. OpenOCD is a dream JTAG interface - would you believe I have four sessions connected to four boards that need to communicate between themelves. They are connected via USB, using the Tiny from Amontec. They supply a Linux driver, and installation is easy, using libftdi. If you want to use multiple of them on a host then you need to identify them by the Amontec serial number. I posted the source for a program that lets you read those serial numbers on the SparkFun ARM forum. What about low power? Look at the new ST part, stm32 family. It claims to run at 500 uA/Mhz, which is twice what TI claims, but still quite low. Apparently TI doesn't want to make any of their third party tool vendors unhappy, so they're playing the game of "pretend to support the Linux crowd". We presently have one product using an MSP430,We sell about 5000 annually - nothing for TI to get excited about. After suffering through its development with crippled tools, we switched to ARM, and we'll soon be buying tens of thousands of them annually. Last but not least, I've already ported my MSP430 code to be consistent with our ARM OS, so the one product we do use an MSP430 is just waiting for a new layout of the PCB to use an ARM chip, which incidentally is cheaper than the TI part. I'm sure the managers at TI have reasons for their policies, but those reason are WRONG! Pretty soon all the Linux developers will be using ARM chips, and once Windows users discover how easy development becomes with real tools, they'll switch to Linux. Sincerely, David Smead www.amplepower.com www.amplepower.net
